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Fears of a credit squeeze and economic downturn pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average into a full correction, as yesterday's 1.83% decline sent it 10% below its October peak. Prices of U.S. Treasury bonds soared as investors fled to their relative safety.

The Dow's correction amounted to an acknowledgment by investors that a period in which banks "were virtually giving away money," in the words of one trader, is over. Banks are suddenly retreating, and consumers who had been loose with their spending are counting their pennies more carefully.

If you shopped online Monday while you should have been working, you're not alone.

A record 72 million Americans were expected to scour the Web for bargains on what was billed as the official start to the online holiday shopping season, according to a survey by Shop.org, an e-commerce industry group. Dubbed Cyber Monday, the day is among the busiest of the year as shoppers finally get serious about buying gifts - egged on by a slew of discounts.

And so far, the season appears to be going relatively well for Internet retailers. Despite a weak economy due to a troubled mortgage industry, shoppers spent $9.3 billion online during the first 23 days of November, 17 percent more than during the same period last year, according to ComScore Inc., a company that tracks Web traffic and online purchases.